The Sensitive and Selective Optical Detection of Mercury(II) Ions by Using a Phosphorothioate DNAzyme Strategy

Abstract

The tetramolecular all-parallel G-quadruplex formed by phosphorothioate oligonucleotides T4G4-S3 (5′-TPSTPSTPSTGGGG-3′) can be stabilized by Hg2+ even at 95 °C, and can form a DNAzyme when binding with hemin that enables the optical detection of Hg2+ at room temperature. This application allowed the selective detection of Hg2+ at a concentration of 50 nM with the “naked-eye”. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.